Supplying your water

We provide safe and reliable water to meet all your needs – domestic, industrial, commercial, recreational and horticultural.

We buy treated water from Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and distribute it to you via our network of 685 km of underground pipes, 24 storage reservoirs and 13 pumping stations. We also make sure it meets the Ministry of Health’s drinking water standards.

We all have a part to play in conserving water, especially in the garden and during the hot summer months.

Water usage – restrictions and conservation tips

Restrictions and tips for using water in summer

Summer’s temperatures and dry winds increase evaporation. There's also less rain which increases water usage and can mean shortages.

To make sure there’s enough water for everyone, we restrict the use of sprinklers and unattended garden hoses during the daylight saving months (September - April).

The restrictions allow you to use:

A single watering system (sprinkler, irrigation system, soaker hose, or unattended hose) between 6-8am and 7-9pm.

On allocated watering days:

Even-numbered houses on even dates of the month (2nd, 4th, 16th etc.)

Odd-numbered houses on odd dates of the month (1st, 3rd, 11th etc.)

Saving water in the garden

As well as following garden watering restrictions during daylight saving, you can take further steps to save water in your garden:

Use good mulch – it holds water and protects the soil from drying out

Remove weeds – they compete for water

Use your broom for sweeping, not your hose – using your hose to ‘sweep’ uses 1,000 litres of water per hour, while your broom uses none!

What else can I do to save water?

Here's how you can help protect the water supply system and our environment:

Make sure your plumbing system is compliant and in good condition – this reduces water wastage and health risks

Observe the publicly notified water supply restrictions on garden watering during daylight savings

Be careful with any public water supply pipes which pass through your property - please make sure we’re able to access the pipes if we need to

Let us know if you see water leakage or waste, or any unauthorised use of fire hydrants or storage reservoir roofs

By taking these steps you can help maintain the safety of our water supply system and minimise future costs to ratepayers.

What belongs to Council and what belongs to you?

You are responsible for all water supply plumbing fittings on your property after our ‘point of service’.

What and where is the point of service?

This is the shut-off valve (known as a toby) which is situated on or close to the street boundary of your property. We’re responsible for maintaining the water supply system up to and including the point of service.

Our water supply standards and commitments

We aim to provide you a first-rate and uninterrupted water supply service, and to meet the following goals:

Water quality

Water will:

Comply with the New Zealand drinking water standards

Receive at least a Bb (satisfactory, very low level of risk) grading from the Ministry of Health

Water treatment

In August 2017, in response to concerning levels of bacterial indicators in the aquifer, the GWRC approved the ongoing chlorination of Lower Hutt drinking water.

To maintain our commitment to water safety and to maintain a safe water supply that meets New Zealand Drinking Water Standards, the water supply needs to receive Receive at least a Bb (satisfactory, very low level of risk) grading from the Ministry of Health.

Wellington Water sought advice from independent experts on the results of investigations into the aquifer. The experts have advised that relying on the aquifer’s natural filtration processes is unlikely to be sufficient to manage potential public health risk.

So, as well as continuous chlorination, ultra-violet (UV) water treatment units will be installed at the Waterloo Water Treatment Plant. This will provide further protection against potentially harmful organisms in our water supply.

Service availability

The water supply to your property will be available at least 99.9% of the time

Interruptions to the water supply to individual properties won't exceed 24 hours at any one time

Our environmental commitment

100% compliance with Resource Management Act consent conditions.

Commitment to our customers

We'll notify property owners or occupiers affected by planned shutdowns by midday on the previous working day and by loudhailer at least five minutes before shutdown

We'll make reasonable efforts to notify property owners or occupiers before urgent work is carried out on private property, and we will also give written notification of the work

Employees and contractors of Hutt City Council and Wellington Water will carry identification: they must show it to you if they need to enter your property

We’ll reinstate any private property disturbed by our employees or contractors to a standard as close as practical to that existing before the work was carried out

We’ll help you work out the location of any public water supply pipelines within your property